Release Blitz for Icy Control by Carly Robyn

 

Icy Control by Carly Robyn is now live! A spicy brother’s best friend, hockey romance where one burning attraction may be the thing that shatters his icy control… Jake Reid has spent years earning every shift, goal, and ounce of respect in the Boston Bobcats’ locker room. Then his father buys the team and suddenly he’s no longer the hardworking player who helped his team win Stanley Cups, but the new owner’s son who hasn’t earned his place. The spotlight is brutal, the pressure to prove he belongs is relentless, and Jake’s carefully controlled world is starting to crack. Sophie Davies has spent years waiting for the right time, the right guy, and the right moment to stop watching her life happen from the sidelines. Or more accurately, from the stands cheering for a hockey player she’s never let herself want out loud. But when she loses her apartment and needs a place to stay, Jake offers his spare room. Starting over pushes Sophie to do the one bold thing she’s never dared to do… ask Jake for exactly what she wants: a secret fling with no strings and no feelings. Except living together makes it impossible to keep things simple. What’s supposed to be casual starts to feel a lot like falling. As the season intensifies and Jake fights to prove he belongs, the one thing he can’t control is how much he needs Sophie. But will the girl who’s never asked for anything fight for forever with the guy who was never supposed to be hers? In a world where control is everything, sometimes the only way to win is to stop playing it safe. Icy Control is a spicy hockey romance with heart, heat, humor, and a guaranteed HEA. This is the third book in the Boston Bobcats series and can be read as a standalone, although reading in order is recommended for the best experience! Download today or read for FREE with kindle+ Visit Carly Robyn's website for buy links, or search Icy Control by Carly Robyn on Amazon. Don't forget to add Icy Control by Carly Robyn to your Goodreads TBR! Amazon: https://a.co/d/00nzJGLc Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4clXgbn

Book Review for Peregrine Hill by Nina de Gramont

 

Peregrine Hill by Nina de Gramont

Published:   November 10, 2026 by Simon & Schuster

Genre:  Historical Fiction

 

Taken from Goodreads:  By the New York Times bestselling author of The Christie Affair, a novel set in Gilded Age New York about a desperate mother and headstrong daughter navigating a world built on men’s appetites and women’s silence

At the dawn of the twentieth century, widow Isabelle Bishop still believes in love—but she knows only money can save her. After losing her husband and three of her children in a shipwreck, she has one chance to rescue what remains of her family: her daughter Mariah and her elderly mother. When Isabelle captures the attention of John Whitten, one of New York’s wealthiest men, she dares to hope that fortune might finally favor her.

But Whitten’s interest is not in Isabelle—it’s in eighteen-year-old Mariah, still reeling from a romantic but disastrous scandal. When Whitten discovers the secret mother and daughter have tried to keep buried, he uses it to his advantage, threatening to expose them unless Mariah accepts his proposal. For the sake of their survival, Isabelle makes a devil’s bargain: she will urge her daughter into a marriage she knows could destroy her.

Mariah quickly realizes her husband’s home is a gilded cage. Yet even under his watchful eye, she begins to carve out passions of her own, finding an unexpected ally in her ambitious maid, Hetty, and daring to imagine a life beyond her constricted world. Together, she and Hetty risk everything to claim a measure of power and self-determination in a world that denies them both.

From the glittering parlors of Gilded Age New York to the windswept cliffs of Rhode Island, Peregrine Hill is a novel in the tradition of Edith Wharton and the Brontë sisters, about unlikely love affairs and the impossible choices women have always been forced to make.

My Thoughts:  I love reading about the Gilded Age in New York.  Nina de Gramont is one of the best authors for this genre.  I have read others book by her and love them all.   I was so excited for Peregrine Hill that I devoured it and was sad when it ended. 

Isabelle and Mariah’s story is a tough one.  The idea that as a widow Isabelle had to find a way to support herself and her daughter.   The options available to her were extremely limited and none of them would keep her in the station she is used to.   It broke my heart to learn what had to be done.   Mariah, the daughter, is a strong character.  Her choices were limited but she managed to stay strong and true to herself. I like that she had people in her corner, willing to help her find her way. 

Thank you Simon & Schuster for a copy of the books in exchange for my honest review.

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Meet the Author(taken from her website):  Nina de Gramont was born in Englewood N.J. on September 3rd, 1966. Her novel The Christie Affair was an international and New York Times bestseller, and the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick for February 2022. The Christie Affair has been translated into more than twenty languages. Nina is also the author of a collection of short stories, as well as the novels Gossip of the Starlings and The Last September. She has written several YA novels (Every Little Thing in the World, Meet Me at the River, The Boy I Love, and — under the pen name Marina Gessner — The Distance from Me to You). Her next novel, Peregrine Hill, is forthcoming in November 2026. Nina teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

 

Audiobook Review for The Frosty Fiancé by L. Steele

 

The Hamiltons #2

The Frosty Fiancé by L. Steele

Published:  November 5, 2026

Genre:  Marriage of Convenience, Romance, Audiobook

Taken from Goodreads:  A Forbidden Father's Best Friend Romance. A Marriage of Convenience Under the Mistletoe.

He was my father's best friend, until my father betrayed him. Ten years later, he walks into my life as revenge with a wedding proposal wrapped in tinsel and bad timing.

Tristan Hamilton is the silver fox billionaire lawyer my father once called a partner. He's Scrooge personified. I'm the woman who starts decorating before the leaves have finished falling, who treats every London Christmas market like sacred ground, who believes mistletoe, fairy lights, and a cup of mulled wine can fix almost anything.

He can't stand carols, cheer, or anything wrapped in tinsel.

Yet somehow, with the advent calendar counting down and my father's law firm, now my responsibility, drowning in debt, Tristan is the one man with enough money, and enough motive, to save it before my debtors close in, before Christmas Eve arrives.

The Christmas Clause: My hand in marriage. No prenup. No exit clause, ever.
The Payoff: His fortune to save my company and my family name before the holidays are over.

It's supposed to be simple. A transaction dressed up in snow and bad timing, somewhere between the fake proposal, outings to Winter Wonderland and the real wedding under a canopy of holly.

Except amid the mistletoe and the mulled wine, and a festive themed dinner on his yacht, I start wanting this marriage to be more than a deal.

Just two people trapped by a contract, thrown together for the entire festive season. His townhouse strung with fairy lights. His family's Christmas Eve lunch. His bed, snow gathering on the windowsill outside.

Then a freak snowstorm strands us overnight with nowhere to sleep but one room, one bed, one flickering fire, and a decade of tension neither of us can outrun anymore.

He thinks he can marry me under the mistletoe, ruin my father through me, and never once fall for the woman he married to do it. He's wrong.

And this Christmas, with the whole city glowing gold and the countdown to midnight running out, I intend to make him admit it.

This is Tristan Hamilton & Opal's story. There is no cheating, and a very satisfying festive-season HEA.

My Thoughts:  There is so much to this book.  The age gap is interesting as it also has the dad’s ex-best friend trope tied to it.  The control that Tristan has over Opal when having steamy moments made me blush.   Marriage of convenience without a way our had me wondering how their relationship would work out. 

Tristan was not always a likable character, but I never actually disliked him.  Opal seemed naïve and went into situations without having a way out or an anticipated outcome.   This set up the marriage to be run by Tristan with Opal just doing as told.  I struggle with this but it seems to work for them.

I listened to this book, so I must mention the narrators, Aaron Shedlock and Zara Hampton Brown. They are wonderful.   I enjoy dual narration; it is my preferred listening.  These two narrators have the perfect voices for Tristan and Opal. 

Thank you Hambright PR for an ALC via Bookfunnel in exchange for my honest review.

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Release Blitz for Now We're Even by S.J. Sylvis

 

Now We're Even by S.J. Sylvis is now live! The only thing worse than living with a hockey player? Pretending to date one. Callahan Grant is the top hockey player at Wilder U and has the entire student body eating out of the palm of his hand. He’s impossible to ignore–and it has nothing to do with his infuriating smirk and everything to do with the fact that he’s my new roommate. Neither of us is thrilled about it. Especially me, considering I currently despise hockey players. But when Callahan and I strike a deal, I start to wonder if maybe I’ve judged him too quickly. He’ll pretend to be my boyfriend long enough to get my ex to back off, and if it works, he gets the room to himself at the end of the semester. Desperate to move on from the scandal that landed me at Wilder U in the first place, I agree. The rules are simple. Fake date. Fool my ex. Survive living together. And by the end of the semester, Callahan and I will be even. Except Callahan makes fake dating feel a little too real every time his arm slips around my waist and his mouth brushes my ear. And somewhere between pretending not to want him and desperately trying not to, I forget why I hated him in the first place. Because the problem with making a deal with Callahan Grant isn’t that he might break it. It’s that when the semester ends, I’m not sure I want him to keep it. Maybe that means we won’t be even after all. Download today or read for FREE with kindle+ Visit S.J. Sylvis's website for buy links, or search Now We're Even by S.J. Sylvis on Amazon. Don't forget to add Now We're Even by S.J. Sylvis to your Goodreads TBR! Amazon: https://mybook.to/Wilderu2 Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4xEjQEQ

Now Live!! Wherever You Are by Erika Kelly

 

Wherever You Are by Erika Kelly is now live!

Brother’s Ex-Wife. Christmas in Paris. Forced Proximity.

After Vivienne Archer left her marriage to Jack Holland’s brother, the entire town sided with her ex—including her children.

Now she spends Christmas in Paris running a vintage fashion booth far from the whispers waiting back home.

She just never expected Jack to come with her.

One hotel suite. Snow-covered streets. Forbidden chemistry. And the rugged innkeeper who never treated her like someone to be ashamed of.

But when old rumors follow them all the way to Paris, Vivienne must decide whether she’s willing to keep running from her old life…or finally fight for a new one.

Steamy small-town romance with magical Christmas markets, forbidden tension, and a second chance at love.

 Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4qEmrMa      

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/45RMyWm 

 

Meet Erika Kelly

Award-winning author Erika Kelly writes sexy, passionate, and emotional contemporary romance. Married to the love of her life and raising four children, she lives in the southwest, drinks a lot of tea, and is always waiting for her cats to get off her keyboard.

 

Connect with Erika

Website | https://www.erikakellybooks.com/   

Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7568925.Erika_Kelly   

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Facebook | https://bit.ly/49I3PSM     

Facebook Group |  https://www.facebook.com/groups/ErikaKellysEntourage     

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Book Blitz for Santa Baby Daddy by Paula Dombrowiak with a GIVEAWAY

 

Santa Baby Daddy
Paula Dombrowiak
(Hollow Reign, #4)
Publication date: November 3rd 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

Hollow Reigns bassist, Casey Beaumont, came to town for the holidays—to catch his bandmate’s Christmas show and have a little fun. One reckless night with a gorgeous stranger definitely counts as fun.

What he didn’t count on was running into her again… as the show’s costume designer. Or spotting the baby bump under all that holiday sparkle.

Casey was never great at math but he’s an expert at falling—for Ava, for the baby, and for a future he can’t stop picturing.

Ava Ramirez has been burned before. The last man who put a baby in her life walked out and never looked back. She is not handing her heart to a serial playboy no matter how cute he is.

But for once, Casey isn’t running. He’s all in.

Ava can’t make the same mistake twice… but would she be missing out on the family she so desperately wants?

Santa Baby Daddy is Book 4 in the Hollow Reign Christmas Novellas, a series of interconnected, steamy holiday romances. Each book can be read as a standalone and features a guaranteed happily ever after.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

The pregnancy book I’m reading says hormones may increase sexual desire. May, in the same way the ocean may be damp.

So I’m chasing waffles—a safe, legal, closed-toe-shoes kind of craving I can actually satisfy at midnight. Because I’m alone, four and a half months pregnant, in a city where I know exactly four people, and one of them just secretly married a guitarist.

A few months ago, my life was predictable. Planned. I knew where I was going and what the next year was supposed to look like. Now I’m pregnant, living on savings and a theater paycheck, hiding out in Sin City because packing a suitcase felt easier than sticking around to watch that carefully constructed future fall apart.

Vegas was supposed to be temporary. A place where I could keep my head down, sew sequins onto costumes for a naughty Christmas show, and buy myself enough time to figure out how the hell I’m going to raise a human being on my own.

The diner is all buzzing neon and cracked vinyl. There are maybe six people scattered through the place, including a waitress named Lou who looks like she’s been working the graveyard shift since Vegas was built, which is exactly the kind of quiet I came looking for.

Casey Beaumont is sitting at the counter with a milkshake and a stack of pancakes tall enough to qualify as architecture, looking like the universe personally designed him to test the limits of my second-trimester self-control. His blond curls are a little wild, his skin somehow still golden in December, like the sun makes a special exception for him.

He catches sight of me before the bell above the door finishes chiming, and his whole face lights up.

And suddenly, my cravings have been given a target.

“Ava Ramirez,” he says, like I’m the best thing that’s happened to him all day. Considering his band imploded into a tabloid circus before dinner, I’m competing against a remarkably low standard.

I sit. Not because he patted the stool like I’m supposed to come when called, but because the counter is closer to the syrup, my feet already hurt from walking in high-heeled boots—I’m pregnant, not fashion-averse—and refusing a perfectly good seat just to make a point would be childish.

The fact that Casey Beaumont is ridiculously easy to look at has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Lou comes over with her order pad. “Strawberry waffles, extra whipped cream, and a side of dill pickles?” God bless her, she doesn’t even blink.

Casey turns on his stool and looks at me, those pretty blue eyes full of something close to reverence.

“Bold,” he says, lifting an eyebrow. “I respect a woman with range.”

“Don’t judge me, Third Row. My stomach wants what it wants.”

He nudges his milkshake toward me. “Want some? It’s peppermint and festive.”

“I don’t share milkshakes with strangers. Especially ones with carnal knowledge of pretty much the entirety of the chorus line.” I roll my eyes.

“First of all, hearsay. And don’t believe a word of what Denise says—she likes to embellish, unless it’s about certain areas.” He not-so-discreetly gives a nod to his lap before pulling the milkshake back, completely unbothered. “Second of all, we’re not strangers. I know you belt Mariah Carey when you think the theater’s empty, I know nobody touches the thread wall and lives, and I know exactly which pocket the emergency Snickers lives in.” He lifts an eyebrow.

“What are you, the Phantom of the Opera lurking around the theater? It’s creepy.”

“A Phantom sounds badass, but it’s not lurking—it’s called paying attention,” he says, and points his fork at me with delight.

I hold in a giggle. He’s lucky he’s pretty.

That’s the thing about Casey Beaumont. For weeks, I’ve watched him make himself at home in my theater, usually sprawled across the third row with his boots propped on the seat in front of him, radiating the energy of a golden retriever who found the treat cabinet open. He’s Hollow Reign’s bass player and, according to the warning I received shortly after meeting him, “the one we don’t leave unattended.”

My waffles arrive and I stop pretending I have manners. Casey watches me drag the pickle through the whipped cream with the rapt attention most men reserve for playoff games.

“Incredible,” he says softly. “You’re my favorite person I’ve ever watched eat.”

I pause mid-bite and stare at him. “You should get out more.”

Author Bio:

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

For more ways to learn about Paula and her books, check out her website: @www.pauladombrowiak.com

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GIVEAWAY!

Santa Baby Daddy Blitz

—

Now Live!! Playing My Holiday by J. Saman

 

Playing My Holiday by J. Saman is now live! Things not on my Christmas wish list? Discovering that my rugby team’s new owner is my former best mate and ex-lover, right after I propose to my girlfriend. It's been years since I've seen Kyren Jax, but before I know what’s happening, the broody billionaire is whisking my fiancée, Ally and me out of London to his country estate to rekindle our friendship. It's a recipe for disaster. Especially when I haven’t grown immune to his gorgeous smirk or the way his heated eyes hold me captive. And when he turns his magnetic stare on Ally, my reaction surprises us all, erupting into a passion none of us can deny. This couldn’t happen at a worse time. Our team is on a win streak and endorsement deals are pouring in. Plus, Ally’s seeking a professorship at her university. Not to mention Kyren has broken my heart before. With too much at stake, we vow to put our dirty weekend behind us. But Kyren becomes impossible to stay away from. Before long, the three of us are sneaking around, doing things in public and private that put us straight on the naughty list. Now he's playing our holiday. And we're all in way over our heads—falling in love and making our sinful secret more than a delicious holiday treat. Playing My Holiday is a VERY STEAMY (you've been warned!) standalone MMF holiday, billionaire, sports, workplace, close proximity in London romance with a swoony why-choose style HEA! It's delicious holiday fun for anyone who likes being on Santa's naughty list—and for anyone who fantasizes about two men together with their woman right there with them. Download today or read for FREE with kindle+ Audiobook Narrated by: Gary Furlong, Will M. Watt & Chloe Ryan Visit J. Saman's website for buy links, or search Playing My Holiday by J. Saman on Amazon and Audible. Don't forget to add Playing My Holiday by J. Saman to your Goodreads TBR! Amazon: http://geni.us/PlayingMyHoliday Audible: https://geni.us/PlayingMyHolidayAudio Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3RBYYhK

Spotlight for The Tribes by Mari Howes

 

The Tribes by Mari Howes

Published:  December 10, 2020 by Audible Originals LLC

Genre:  Mystery, Thriller, Cult

Taken from Goodreads:  A dark and daring debut novel exploring power, control and resilience against all odds, The Tribes tells the story of a cult member accused of a shocking crime and the lawyer who chooses to defend her.

One quiet night in a rural Vermont town, a panicked woman calls 9-1-1 on a gas station payphone to report that a newborn baby has died. Local police respond to the call and charge Heather Garner, a college drop-out who’s been a member of fringe religious community The Messiah’s Tribes since the 1990s, with the murder of her infant son. Heather’s future is left in the hands of a family who hasn’t seen or heard from her in almost 20 years.

Abby Harris’s friends and colleagues are puzzled by her choice to take on a child homicide case, but Abby is convinced that there’s more to Heather’s story than meets the eye. Putting her own pregnancy at risk, Abby’s investigations lead her to understand that The Messiah’s Tribes may not be a peaceful, eccentric bunch of hippies, but a well-organized, exploitative criminal enterprise.

Engrossing and suspenseful, the mystery of Heather’s past is revealed piece by terrifying piece, until a jury must decide: Are Heather and her dead child just collateral damage, or is the dead-eyed woman a willing participant in the cult’s sinister agenda?

Please note: This audio contains strong language, distressing situations, and descriptions of abuse and violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised.

 

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

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Audiobook Review for Falling for Mr. October by Angela Casella, Heather Firth (Narrator), Sean Masters (Narrator)

 

Apple Ridge #1

Falling for Mr. October by Angela Casella, Heather Firth (Narrator), Sean Masters (Narrator)

Published:   October 15, 2026 by Angela Casella

Genre:  Romance, Autumn, Faked Dating

Taken from Goodreads: 

**Spicy version**
The whole town’s falling for the famous Shirtless Chef. Even his fake girlfriend.

Bianca
Call me suspicious, but I know something’s up when my nonna’s former best friend shows up at our house for an extended stay with her adult grandson Giovanni. Nonna says we’re lucky they’re going to “help out” with our failing family farm for the fall. I don’t buy it. No man would abandon his life to play his grandmother’s vacation companion.

Is Giovanni gorgeous?
Yes.

Charming?
Yes, and he’s always cooking for us.

But he’s definitely hiding something, and one day at our pumpkin patch, I discover his
Giovanni was recently unmasked as the anonymous YouTube sensation known as The Shirtless Chef.

Everyone back home knows, so he left to escape the chaos.

Too bad the chaos follows him, and now I’m part of it.

Giovanni

I didn’t mean to kiss Bianca.

I definitely didn’t mean to kiss her in front of a photographer, but one stolen snap later, everyone’s insisting that I came to Apple Ridge for her.

I'm about to clear it up when she begs me not to—
The farm is failing, and a fake relationship with an accidental celebrity could solve her problems.

So I agree.

The next thing I know, I’m crowned the town’s Mr. October, Bianca and I are drowning in fall festivals, and I’m falling for a woman I know I’ll have to leave.


There are TWO different versions of this
1) A spicy open door version with some strong language and sex scenes
2) A closed door version with mild language and only kissing.
Please choose the version that's best for you!

 

My Thoughts:  Listening to the spicy version of Falling for Mr. October had me blushing and wanting more.   I enjoy spice and I enjoy closed door romance so I believe that I would have enjoyed either version. The spicy version was full of ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥. 

Falling for Mr. October is a great cozy fall romance.  The characters are fun with interesting lives.  Giovanni is protective and possessive enough to make my toes curl in anticipation of his next move while Bianca shows where she belongs from page one.   They are the perfect couple.  I love how much they care about the town and how they work together to set things in the right direction for the small town. 

Thank you Hambright PR for an audio copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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